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To modify or not modify your JL or any generation, for that matter,

CanAmMick

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I’m going to pick up my first wrangler tomorrow. I’m coming from a 535xi which is super quiet. Holy smokes is the wind noise crazy on the wrangler. I’m worried It’s going to drive me crazy. I only drive 7500 miles / yr mostly city, so I’m rolling the dice.
Yes the wind noise is something your going to have to get use to. We didn’t get this Jeep to drive on the highway. Most of our driving is off road. Our lifted Jeep is noisy, but the ride isn’t bad at all. We’ve added a Mopar steel front bumper and a Warn wench. One of these days if my dealer ever gets their act together we’ll hopefully get our electric running boards installed. I would bet that your going to really enjoy yours! Sure hope so anyway.
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hutchman

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I was reading a recent posting by a member on how he was dissatisfied with his JL and sold it after having it for barely 6 months. Now, if you are like me and just a little bit frugal with your money, that seems a little ridiculous. Sorry but common sense does not seem to be going into his choice of vehicles and what exactly what he intends to do with them. Either that or he has more money than sense, which is usually the case.
Firstly, before you even think of modifying your Jeep with suspension and tire upgrades, you must realize or visualize, what you really will be doing with the Jeep. Are you going to be tackling some serious off road trails with it or will the Jeep spend most of it's time on pavement with an occasional foray off road?
What I am driving at, is that when you modify your Jeep, you are actually hindering the on-road behavior with non-aerodynamic accessories like suspension lifts, flat fenders, wide knobby tires, bumpers, etc. The Jeep may be a beast off-road but it will also become a beast on-road, too and not in a good way. Oddly enough, those lame, stock, plastic fender flares and bumper bits do serve a purpose and that's mostly to cut down on wind noise and improve gas mileage. We are talking aerodynamics here. Lifting a Jeep only makes things worse for aerodynamics, too. Sorry.
It turns out the gentlemen stated above, traded his Jeep Rubicon for a Ford Raptor because the highway manners of the Jeep suffered, wind/road noise picked up after lifting it a couple more inches, putting 37 inch off-road tires on and he even went as far as to wondering why the transmission wouldn't shift right, anymore. Duh!! Well of course all this was going to happen after all those modifications! Yes, the Jeep looks bad ass but what was he thinking expecting a factory riding/driving Jeep after all that?? Probably not.
Folks, FCA already builds a fine and quite capable Rubicon but, believe it or not, it already pushes the limits of being a well mannered vehicle on-road as well as both off-road. If FCA took the mods any further, it would not be a highway riding vehicle, at all. We all know that you need the highway to get to those trails so you have to decide what is more important to you. You could always do like this gentleman who apparently has no issue with money, anyway, and trailer the beast in so it could be used what it is ultimately outfitted for.
Yes, I get it! We all modify our Jeeps. It's an addiction and money pit of sorts. But at some point you got to decide what's important and, ultimately, how you are going to use it. I don't know about you but with a JL pushing 40-50 grand, now, I have to trust the FCA engineers a little more and my pocketbook a little less. I just can no longer afford what I used to put on my old TJ. Quite frankly, I don't have to because the JL is one of the best generation of Wranglers, yet.
Post #2 huh.....holy crap....really great way to start. Urinating in someone elses Wheaties is not good.
 

sfadchi

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Post #2 huh.....holy crap....really great way to start. Urinating in someone elses Wheaties is not good.
That was exactly my thoughts, then you read he drives a TJ and doesn't even own a JL.
 

sfadchi

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I’m going to pick up my first wrangler tomorrow. I’m coming from a 535xi which is super quiet. Holy smokes is the wind noise crazy on the wrangler. I’m worried It’s going to drive me crazy. I only drive 7500 miles / yr mostly city, so I’m rolling the dice.
I'm sure you will love it! I do not think my experience was typical. I was expecting wind noise, after all, it has a fold-down windshield and a removable top. My disappointment with the wind noise was coming from a 2015 JKUR, I expected it to be much better. I'm already looking to get another Jeep, but going to end up getting an older Wrangler to beat up in the woods/swamp to spare the Raptor from damage. They are a serious addiction, be prepared for that! :)
 

KrispyKotex

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Owned a TJ that was modded, JK that was very heavily modded, now my JLUR, which I'm not going to heavily mod. Maybe larger, meatier tires on stock rims, but that's about it (I like the stock rims :). To each his/her own, but I grew tired of playing the jeep modification game; you are just never done with the upgrades to keep up with the guy next door. What I see around here are modded jeeps that never get dirty. I work and play on a farm, I use my jeep, and it is very capable as-is.
 

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BVGeezer

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Modifying any model of Jeep is a matter of needed capability vs. testosterone driven ego. Nothing is more laughable than seeing a lifted Jeep with all the whistles and bells in an urban environment aka mall crawler. Most of my serious Jeep friends have SUVs or trucks for everyday and beat up wheelers with mild lifts and 33s or 35s for weekend fun. It is just stupid to spend $50K on a full dress JL and $10-20K on mods and wheel it a few times a year or never at all. Buy an old Jeep and beat the crap out of it.

Our JLUR has no mods except for a winch and on board recovery equipment. It fits our needs which is four months of winter desert off road in Arizona, a couple weeks in Utah and the rest of the year in Buena Vista, Colorado. If we want to do the crazy stuff we catch a ride with friends.
 

mwilk012

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My family owns a fleet of tow trucks across a few different wrecker services, and when I was 15 they recovered an apparently abandoned 1998 TJ in dark green from near the river, buried over the axles in sand. It had no carpet, no top, no center console, the ignition switch was busted and you had to start it with a screwdriver, and only the drivers seat was left inside. Over the next few years I added a softtop, upper soft door panels, the rest of the seats, rebuilt the engine, transmission, transfer case, replaced power steering pump, water pump, windshield, ignition switch, and all of the speakers. The only thing I would consider a mod at all was the new sound system which was bad ass at the time. Between the time I got the jeep and the time I left home for the military I never had time to really mod the jeep as I was just trying to get it back to a decent shape.

My brother took over after I left, added 35" tires, a huge lift, aftermarket front bumper and a winch, and it could no longer use 5th gear or go over 55 mph at all. Ruined the jeep, which was then stolen because he left the keys in it, recovered, and sold for $5k.

By then I had been driving my silver 2011 JKU sport for some time, and was very happy with it, but I was living in barracks and moving at least once every 18 months so I never got around to modifying it. When I finally settled down for a few years, it was having mechanical problems that made me no longer enjoy driving it, so the JL on the horizon kept me from modifying.

Now that I have my dream jeep, and FINALLY in blue, I will be doing as many mods as I can reasonably accomplish on my own, without my wife complaining about the money. But, it can definitely support large tires unlike the TJ and is fun to drive, unlike my JK.
 

crystalbackJL

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Yeah... no major mods for me. It's my daily driver. I've been wheeling with Jeep pals and local clubs and its been more than capable doing runs that im comfortable taking my NEW Jeep on. I like getting it dirty... not rock climbing. However... I'm gonna hack off those european bumper covers. I've added MOLLE storage to the tailgate, grip handles, and decals. I will add steps, or rock rails as steps and a CB radio. I love my Jeep.

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JIMBOX

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No doubt about it--

That's a good looker !

W.E.

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caged

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either you're a jeeper, or you're not.



once i get my JL rubicon, it will be my first stock jeep (for a day, at least) before i lift and put 37's.
when i bought my tj off a friend, it had 2 inch bb and 2 inch body lift on 33's. it still drove great and wheeled even better. i just got rid of it yesterday. it had wind noise through the hard top and windshield frame. my first winter, i even had snow coming in from there when a transport truck passed by. didn't care, it was a jeep. i even drove it for a whole winter with just a bikini/wind jammer and tunnel cover. had a good heater. it was a jeep.

either you're a jeeper, or you're not.
 

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twisty

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@kahrensjr thank you for taking the time to post about me. As I mentioned in my post I was not happy with the wind noise long before I lifted it or put 37s on it. My posts are documented in the very long Hard Top Wind Noise thread. I had my JLUR in the shop 6 times in 5 months. Yes, 3 times were from the god-awful wind noise with the hard top, once for my Uconnect failing, once for the cruise control recall, and once for the steering TSB. Seems a bit of jealousy is in play here? I also mentioned I understood why the transmission was hunting gears. This was not my first Jeep and probably will not be my last. I'll be back to the brand when the diesel comes out and they do something about the wind noise and horrible frame welds. My past 2015 JKUR was also highly modified.

You also mention you being frugal, that's great for you. I don't live in debt, I pay cash for almost everything I own unless I get a stupid good interest rate. I make good money and choose to spend it how I'd like. I didn't by my Raptor for you, I bought it for me! I didn't lose a dime on my Jeep, as a matter of fact, I made close to $3,000 trading it in after driving it for 6 months. In no way did I bash your precious Jeep, I simply stated my reasons for my decision to get rid of my Jeep. Maybe for you, people have to choose what they want to drive for the next 10 years, but variety is the spice of life! I've been driving a Jeep for 4 years almost and I can tell you my new Raptor is a very welcome change!
Good post. I've brought my jeep in for a ESS trouble and if that is it I'll be happy. I dont blame you for your issues, except for wind noise. Mine makes noise at about 70mph but not sweating it. Perhaps some are worse than others?

Good for you on your money situation. I always hated that saying "more money than sense". My immediate thought to that is "sense enough to have more money". lol That Raptor is SWEET. I just have a F150 and now know why ford sells the way they do. Still it's pretty big for most trail work. It wont touch a jeep in that department. Cant wait to see what they do with the bronco. I hear some interesting motor choices for them as well.
 

twisty

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As far as mods on my JL. I dont want to ruin the way it feels now, it's a big worry. But it just wont do what I need it to do stock. I will get a full coverage skid plate. Front bumper with winch, rear bumper-spare carrier, rocker/slider, 2-3 inch lift, 35s likely maybe 37s. I might regear to 4.88s for the tire size and added weight. That's a lot and I'm crossing my fingers that it doesnt suck afterwards. lol
 

Dogboyslim

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I'm new to Jeeps, and historically I've been sort of frugal with my vehicles, but not totally. I don't really plan to mod my Jeep right now, since mostly I'm what folks affectionately call a poser on these forums. I'm getting one so I can have a convertible that seats 5 (otherwise one of the kids doesn't get to come with), and my wife liked the look of the Rubicon, so mall crawling here I come!

That said, I don't think you can fault people for their decisions to make modifications to jeeps. The thing is purpose built as a platform for modifications. I expect I'll probably find some way to spend more money on my own jeep even without larger tires and suspension mods. I find it disingenuous to come on a jeep forum and claim that your opinion on the "to modify or not to modify" is any better than anyone else's opinion on the matter. I've met one jeep guy who doesn't really like to go off-road but REALLY likes to work on his jeep so he has modified the heck out of it. He's awesome to talk to, and his Jeep looks great, even though it is an off-road monster he only really drives on dirt roads. He loves it, so he keeps tweaking it.

As to the poster you mentioned, I read his threads, and it sounds like he didn't really lose much money on the JL and wanted a raptor more. Good for him! I find it difficult to apply any measure of his sense, but I agree he probably is well off. No one buys a Raptor without having significant cash. Then again, people don't buy 30-40k Jeeps to ride off-road without significant cash either, so perhaps we all have more money than sense. At any rate, I don't want a Raptor so I won't buy one. See how that works? Personal choice and freedom is sort of what Jeep is about. To post a tirade about someone else's choices being wrong...that's just not what I'd expect of a Jeep owner.
 

twisty

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either you're a jeeper, or you're not.



once i get my JL rubicon, it will be my first stock jeep (for a day, at least) before i lift and put 37's.
when i bought my tj off a friend, it had 2 inch bb and 2 inch body lift on 33's. it still drove great and wheeled even better. i just got rid of it yesterday. it had wind noise through the hard top and windshield frame. my first winter, i even had snow coming in from there when a transport truck passed by. didn't care, it was a jeep. i even drove it for a whole winter with just a bikini/wind jammer and tunnel cover. had a good heater. it was a jeep.

either you're a jeeper, or you're not.
Yeah. Jeep made the mistake of marketing these things to non-jeep types. Hard to blame the newbies when jeep did it to themselves. You know there is something different when your wife wants to get one. She never said that about my TJ. lol

I would have much rather have jeep put out a bare bones rubicon. No cute-c do-dads, just all function (and a louver that actually is a louver haha). You would have less whining I would think.
 

caged

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my wife had a tj before me, (it's still in the family). but i had my lifted cherokee that we both loved. still have it and won't be letting it go any time soon. she's a jeep gurl for life. lucky me.
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